Another question about agents

Smetcher

Hello Everybody,

I have another question about agents. Some agents (by no means all) ask that if you are submitting work to them you should tell them if you are submitting it to anyone else.

I can think of two basic and contradictory reasons for this:

1. "This guy might get snapped up by another agent! Let's read his three chapters straight away!"
2. "This guy isn't taking us seriously. He's not interested in us so why should we be interested in him? Bin it."

Maybe there's a bit of both. Maybe I'm on completely the wrong track.

If the reason is no. 1, then all well and good, I'm disposed to tell them about the 20 other submissions I made this morning, but if the reason is no. 2, why should I tell them?

Your as-usual erudite thoughts would be welcomed.

Patrick

Carol

Sending out to 20 at a time isn't the best way to go, but you've done it now.

It sounds like you may not have done enough research on what each agent wants- they will each have their preferences...

Smetcher

I was exaggerating, I only have two submissions out at the moment.

I don't really understand your reply, I'm afraid. I research which agents at a particular agency would be interested in what I write, but no amount of research will tell you why they want to know if you've submitted to anyone else.

Thanks.

Tiny Nell

I am too scared to break the rules, so I stick to the one-at-a-time thing... or I did. I haven't tried for ages. My life was passing by as I waited for my four replies a year!

Apparently, a lot of agents are in touch with one another and word gets around, so if you tell a few of them that they're your preferred choice of agent in the whole wide world, they sniff deceit!

I do wonder if they would withdraw an offer if they heard you'd got interest from another party... or maybe they'd try harder.

Carol

I was exaggerating, I only have two submissions out at the moment.

I don't really understand your reply, I'm afraid. I research which agents at a particular agency would be interested in what I write, but no amount of research will tell you why they want to know if you've submitted to anyone else.

Thanks.

Glad you weren't serious. #:-S

I'm sure there are many reasons why they'd want to know. If they decided they wanted to offer representation they would know who else might want that writer...

Smetcher

I am too scared to break the rules, so I stick to the one-at-a-time thing... or I did. I haven't tried for ages. My life was passing by as I waited for my four replies a year!

Most agencies say that if they're going to respond at all, they'll do it within six weeks. I should manage eight per year, or 16 if I cautiously submit to two at a time. That's a lot of waiting! I'm planning on giving it a year, then looking seriously at self-publishing. Maybe when my stuff is actually out there, an agent may approach me. By then, of course, I may not want one!

Jediya

As I've mentioned on some other threads, I had the opportunity earlier in the year to attend two Q&A and one-on-one sessions with three literary agents. All of them advised sending out between 5-10 at a time or (and I quote) "you will drive yourself mad waiting" and/or "there's always the chance of multiple offers."

They also said that be honest at all times and just add a small note saying something like "I am also submitting to other agencies" - you don't have to tell them who or how many. The reasons for this, that they gave, were because 'agents talk to each other' and if you have not been upfront about simultaneous subs they will find out and you could get a bad reputation.

The other reasons were that it may (or may not) speed their reading times up. Probably not on initial subs but if an agent request a full MS, other agencies ask that you let them know this. Which is simply because (and again I quote) "we will find your submission and read it quickly to see if we also want to read the full" and then you may end up with more than one agent asking to represent you (which means you then have to decide who suits you and your book's interests best.)

One of the agents informed us that she had offered someone representation only to find they had accepted an offer when she had no idea they had submitted to other agencies. She felt, understandably, that she had wasted time, emotion and investment in the MS.

Smetcher

Thanks, Jediya. That's a very full and informative posting. I'll take that into account, and maybe find three to eight extra agents to submit to.

Cheers.

datco2014

Supposedly it is as difficult to get an agent as it is a publisher. That's certainly what I found anyway.